We're looking for someone to help out with organising this year's vendor stalls, and also to handle sponsorship. There are normally around 30 full time stallholders, 15 pop-ups, and a handful of sponsors.
Nine Worlds has experimented with several vendor models over the last five years, including separate expo space, only a pop-up market, and a vendor space within the main convention. For 2018, we're looking to run in a similar fashion to last year, when we ran the vendor space as part of the convention, as well as hosting a short pop-up market.
We offer a handful of sponsorship packages, as well as the potential for bespoke arrangements with suitable organisations. We are looking for a vendor and sponsorship liaison to administer these arrangements, and ensure that sponsors and Nine Worlds get the best results from them.
The new vendor and sponsorship liaison will have an opportunity to work with the management team and interested vendors to shape the event for 2018. This will mean working within the space constraints of our contract with the hotel.
What the role involves
Before the convention, you will:
- Work with the Nine Worlds management team to set out a plan for vendors at the 2018 event
- Deal with enquiries from interested vendors and approach those of interest to Nine Worlds
- Attend at least one site visit to the venue
- Assist with drafting the 2018 vendors contract (legal assistance is available)
- Make a plan for the agreed space and draft a layout for vendor tables and other requirements
- Agree the list of accepted vendors with the management team
- Administer the 2018 vendors agreement, obtaining signed copies well in advance of the event
- Work with the Nine Worlds management team to confirm and advertise sponsorship packages for the 2018 event
- Agree the list of accepted sponsors with the management team
- Finalise and administer the agreed sponsorship arrangements
We have pre-existing processes and material, e.g. standard mailouts and agreements from previous years, that you can use if you wish. While these may need updating, this shouldn't be a huge job. The main tasks will be keeping in touch with everyone, putting together a good selection of vendors, and figuring out a suitable layout and positioning. Depending on sponsorship take-up, getting the right info from sponsors and passing it to our designer will also be pretty important.
At the convention, you will:
- Liaise with the venue, volunteers, vendors and sponsors
- Ensure that the space is set up correctly, and that the load in and out processes are swift and successful
- Supervise the vendors space (with assistance as agreed)
- Deal with all enquiries and problems relating to vendors and sponsors
There will be duty managers, venue liaison and an ops team available to assist at all times. Unlike many other roles, the 'on' time tends to be restricted to business hours, as there's not much to do once the vendors room is locked up for the night.
Necessary
You will need to be / have:
- A confident and competent communicator - in writing and in person
- Willing to work as part of a team - Nine Worlds is built on teamwork. You need to be ready to work closely with the Nine Worlds management team, the venue events team, and the rest of the Nine Worlds organisation as required
- Regular access to an internet-connected computer - All of our organising is carried out on-line, partly from necessity as it's difficult to get everyone in one place. We may be able to loan laptops or Chromebooks to volunteers for the duration of their role in organising the 2018 event. Daily communication isn’t necessary, but we do need to know that you’re still engaged and working on things. Weekly check-ins are likely to be expected
- Time and capacity to carry out the role, and the desire to do so
Desirable
- Vendor and/or sponsor experience - If you've dealt with vendors, whether by helping to host them or by actually selling stuff, that will be an advantage. Even substantial experience in attending expo or vendor hall events counts for something, so please feel free to mention that. Any experience with sponsorship packages would also be helpful
- Understanding of barriers to inclusion faced by marginalised groups - Membership of a marginalised or disadvantaged group counts as lived experience
- Experience with Discord, GSuite and possibly Trello - Introductory training can be provided if necessary
Reimbursement and justification
We expect this voluntary role to be taken up by people who are not professional event organisers in their day jobs, who would find volunteering for this interesting, personally rewarding and valuable for the Nine Worlds community.
In order to accommodate the requirements of this role, we expect to offer the vendor liaison a weekend membership to the convention, and a space in shared accommodation either at or near the convention hotel, from Thursday night until Monday morning. We may also be able to reimburse travel expenses. We are also happy to write appropriate references for our volunteers.
If you'd like to ask about or apply for this role, please get in touch at jobs@nineworlds.co.uk. There's more information on how we handle recruitment on the main vacancies page. There isn't a formal end date as we're uncertain how much interest we're going to see, but we'll try to give at least a couple of days notice on the website before we stop accepting applications.